Request for Recipes

[monster]

you could also marinade some in soy sauce/ginger.whatever and then add in at the end of a stir fry

[BigV]

I don't think more cooking already toughened meat will make it awesome. But, you can help it... I've helped it when I cooked country style pork ribs too fast. The biggest single factor in that rescue was to cut the pork very thinly, this is easiest when cold, like refrigerated cold. Then when you re-cook/re-heat, it only has a small thickness to go through, and it makes shredding/mauling, easier.

THEN, the lesson I learned is that I don't have enough patience to prepare, cook while watching, pork butt. That is something that needs to be put on super low, then walk the hell away and do something else.
Like the olympics. or go to bed. use a crockpot. falling apart tender does not happen from getting off work to dinnertime the same night, neverever.

Doesn't mean you can't have tasty pork covered in tasty bbq sauce, it just won't be lovely shredded pork.

[limey]

Originally Posted by BigV

I don't think more cooking already toughened meat will make it awesome ...

Cooking meat slowly at low temperatures causes the fat and connective tissue in the meat to melt and become tender -- perfect for stews, soups and pulled pork. I believe the meat was already tough before cooking, and was not cooked for long enough.

[BigV]

Pork butt is not a tough cut of meat, generally speaking. If the meat is cooked quickly, the proteins coil up and the same amount of meat gets smaller and tighter. Tougher. Once it's been changed this way, more cooking won't loosen it up.

But the meat might still be tough because it's undercooked, I find that unlikely. In that case, more cooking might loosen it up. Brisket is a tough cut, and takes forever at low temps to cook to tenderness. Pork butt, much less so.

[limey]

Originally Posted by BigV

Pork butt is not a tough cut of meat, generally speaking. If the meat is cooked quickly, the proteins coil up and the same amount of meat gets smaller and tighter. Tougher. Once it's been changed this way, more cooking won't loosen it up.

But the meat might still be tough because it's undercooked, I find that unlikely. In that case, more cooking might loosen it up. Brisket is a tough cut, and takes forever at low temps to cook to tenderness. Pork butt, much less so.

Thanks. Pigs do not have "butts" in this country, so I'm not sure what pork butt is (though I agree pig meat is not usually all that tough). I lurve brisket braised in a slow cooker!

[bbro]

It worked out ok. I didn't think it would because it was smelly in the beginning. Like over-cooked smelly. But, I persevered and let it sit in BBQ sauce and some veggie broth. When it was done, I was able to easily shred the big pieces like I wanted to. Now, I just have to figure out how to serve it - lol.

limey - pork butt is pork shoulder. No clue why it's called a butt.

[footfootfoot]

Dat be da butt, Bob.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by bbro

limey - pork butt is pork shoulder. No clue why it's called a butt.

From Wikipedia:

In pre-revolutionary New England and into the American Revolutionary War, some pork cuts (not those highly valued, or "high on the hog", like loin and ham) were packed into casks or barrels (also known as "butts") for storage and shipment. The way the hog shoulder was cut in the Boston area became known in other regions as "Boston butt".

[limey]

Thanks bbro and grav. Very interesting!


Sent by thought transference

[bbro]

Whose got some good chicken recipes? No plain chicken - I have plenty of seasoning and can "grill" them that way. I am looking for different things. Chicken with sauce or in sauce or something I can serve over rice, pasta, or potatoes is good. Extra points for healthy fried chicken that doesn't involve spraying the food with Pam (shudder). No beans or avocado or chunky tomatoes or olives or weird veggies. And I tend to stick to chicken breast.

Thanks for the help!

[Gravdigr]

The local Mexican restaurant has a thing (don't know if it's a standard Mexican dish or not) called the Ismail Special, or Is Special.

It's basically chicken breast, (or steak, or shrimp, or all three), queso blanco cheese, and Mexican-style rice.

Made casserole style:

Cook a couple chicken breasts (however ya like 'em), cut 'em up, tear 'em up, shred 'em, whatever. Cook one package of Mexican rice (or a cup or two of white rice). Mix chicken and rice with one or two jars of queso blanco, or Monterey Jack. Sometimes I'll throw in a drained can of peas and carrots to add a little color.

Throw all that into a casserole dish and put in a 350 degree oven for twenty minutes or so, enough to make it hot and gooey.

Sometimes I layer canned crescent rolls on top partway through cooking and cook til they're done.

It's a really simple dish that is absolutely addictive. Real stick-to-your-ribs stuff, too.

[Undertoad]

I did this last week and it was killer. Braised chicken in sun-dried tomato cream sauce:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...ato-cream-4108

And what I did is make extra sauce and serve on pasta (but not too much pasta). I found that it was acceptable to take the chicken out of the pan after braising it, make the sauce, and reduce it a little bit. Then chicken back in, cook through, finish with final basil.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I did this last week and it was killer. Braised chicken in sun-dried tomato cream sauce:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...ato-cream-4108

And what I did is make extra sauce and serve on pasta (but not too much pasta). I found that it was acceptable to take the chicken out of the pan after braising it, make the sauce, and reduce it a little bit. Then chicken back in, cook through, finish with final basil.

The recipe calls for bringing the wine and cream to a boil, does that not separate the cream?

[limey]

http://www.jamieoliver.com/videos/ov...-jamie-oliver/

[Undertoad]

It didn't